Love Is Madness
by annie-lauren
Summary: My insight into the minds of the Hatter and Alice. Based on Burton. HatterxAlice


Oh my. What am I to do? There was too much in my mind. Everything was running around filling the tiny little spaces in my mind that should have been filled with lots of other things. But if I was not thinking about these things, I would surely not know what I was doing, and would therefore be completely mad. And mad is not going to get me anywhere in this situation. Mad would make me question why a raven is like a… Why is a raven like a writing desk? Why is a _raven_, like a writing desk? Why is a… No! Insanity is going to get me nowhere! I must think logically, I must think logically… Can you think diagonally? No, logically!

What am I to do?

"Alice…" I whispered, so quietly. Did she hear me? She hasn't done anything yet. What if she can't hear me? What if I'm not speaking? Have I lost my voice?!

Oh my, she's looking at me.

"What is it, Hatter?" She questioned. What is it? What is what? Oh, what is it that I asked? Why I said your name? Look at your face, well, I will look at it, you cannot, that is anatomically impossible. No, stop thinking diagonally- LOGICALLY! Think logically! Just tell her all of these things that are running around. Tell her and they might stop.

"I…" Good heavens, think of something to say. Think, think, think, think, think. How can I think? How do I think? Why is a raven like a writing desk? My eyes began to leave their focus.

"Hatter?" She asked again. I heard you the first time, girl, I heard you, if only you could see my mind, it'd help you, it would help you see.

"Alice… I…" I simply stood. I could feel the cold air surrounding me. Stupid cold air, making my brain function improperly. I turned sideways and looked at her. She was leaning over the East balcony of the White Queen's castle, and I was stood next to her. I just had to say something. I had to say something… Something, something, something. What something?

She's standing up… She's the right height at the moment. No concoctions inside her, forcing her to stretch, or shrinking her to a miniscule size. She was the right height, the correct height, the perfect height… She was. Her eyes met mine. Her eyes were blue… Very blue… What else is blue? Blue like the ocean, blue like the sky, blue like Absalom, blue like the poisonous mushrooms… Blue. They were blue.

"Hatter, are you alright?" She asked me.

"Alright? Alice, Alice, Alice, I'm always alright! I'm as right as the sun! No, as right as the rain! AS RIGHT AS THE RAIN! DOWN WITH THE BLOODY RED QUEEN!" I heard myself raising my voice. She suddenly placed her hands on either side of my face. They felt… They felt like nothing I had felt before… They were like silk, and glass, and daisies, and roses, and cotton, and everything else mixed in to a strange potion. I simply remained motionless, my eyes locked on hers.

"Hatter…" She trailed off. Her voice filled my head, and her hands stung my face… They were burning me… Just her touch felt like she was about to take my head off, what was she doing to me? I could see her eyes, they were searching mine, searching for mine… Searching almost into my mind. She was moving closer… She was… She was Alice.

* * *

I leant my elbows on the balcony, and I let my eyes wander across the landscape of Wonderland. Or Underland, whichever the awful Red Queen had decided it was. I saw the beautiful gardens of the White Queen's castle, everything clean and crisp and _alive_. It wasn't like the rest of this world. It was as though the Wonderland was encased in the White Queen's walls, and then as soon as you left, you joined the Underland. I stood in a comfortable silence with the Hatter, who was breathing lightly as he accompanied me. I had decided against deciding what I thought about the Hatter. He just was, who he was. And I thought it best to leave it that way. I enjoyed his company, and it would appear he enjoyed mine. It was a happy medium, which I liked. Suddenly, the silence was shattered.

"Alice…" I heard him whisper, ever so quietly. Before I turned to address him, as I had been taught, I drank in the last sights of the Wonderland, and allowed my eyes to rest on the night sky. Satisfied it wasn't going to change as I spoke, I turned slowly and ran my eyes over my companion.

"What is it, Hatter?" I asked, a smile threatening to touch my lips as I saw him mentally questioning himself. I was still undecided of my feelings for him, but I had to admit, if only internally, he had grown on me. He had a charm that was hard to find, but once found, it was wonderful.

"I…" He stammered. I watched him closely, still leaning on the balcony. I saw his face pale, which I would have thought was impossible, before I came here. I knew, nothing was impossible. It was only impossible if you believed it was. His fluorescent eyes began to cloud slightly.

"Hatter?" I questioned again, as worry began to take over my mind. I had seen him at his best, and I was sure this was travelling down the opposite path.

"Alice… I…" He muttered again. I narrowed my eyes in fair confusion and slowly stood up, supporting my weight with my arms. I was finally the correct height, for the first time in what seemed like forever. I met his wonderfully curious eyes with my own, searching them, as though they contained the answer to his problem. No, not problem, Alice, that's the wrong word. The answer to his… Magnificence.

"Hatter, are you alright?" I asked politely, not wishing to intrude. My curiosity had got the better of me. I wanted to know what was wrong… It was as though he was asking himself too many questions. I was worried he was going to combust.

"Alright? Alice, Alice, Alice, I'm always alright! I'm as right as the sun! No, as right as the rain! AS RIGHT AS THE RAIN! DOWN WITH THE BLOODY RED QUEEN!" He began shouting, his voice changing to an angry accented one, the sign that he was not himself. His now amber eyes began searching the sky, darting around as though following an invisible fly. I involuntarily and rather swiftly raised my hands to his face, bringing his eyes back to mine. His skin was cold, and seemed paler now my hands were contrasting it's sheer surface.

"Hatter…" I murmured, not thinking straight. I had decided on my feelings for him. I now knew what I had decided about him. He was the unspoken force that kept me here, kept me fighting. He was who he was, and that was good enough for me. I leant forward as gently as I could and captured my lips with his.


End file.
